CHOCOLATE MUDSLIDE CUPCAKES WITH BAILEYS AND KAHLUA SMBC

I decided to try and make mudslide cupcakes again because the first recipe I tried didn't live up to my expectations, probably because I ultimately screwed up somewhere since I was relatively new with the chemistry required in baking and also since my oven is effin' jacked up. When I found this recipe, the frosting in the picture were two different colors and ultimately, that is what made me want to try it again. I thought that it'd be a cool effect to say that I've done even thought it's not a difficult achievement. And the fact that I had all the ingredients helped a lot too. 

When Ry's coworkers ate these, they (of course) loved them. A boss of his said that these were her favorite. I, on the other hand, thought that the chocolate cake was on the dry side. In my opinion, the frosting is what really made these cupcakes awesome and I would actually replace the chocolate cake with another recipe that I adore, which I haven't quite found yet. 

The extra work in making the frosting is well worth it. It looks really cool and like I said before, makes the cake. 

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

So. R's two favorite cookies are peanut butter and oatmeal. If I had to narrow mine down to two (which is terribly difficult), I ultimately chose sugar and shortbread. And with that, I decided to makes these oatmeal chocolate chip cupcakes for Ry and because I had all the ingredients on hand.

I read a warning that these cupcakes were super dense, which kind of made me leery. After making them, however, they were so super delicious, I didn't mind them being as dense as they were. They were still moist and the chocolate chip gooey-ness was just what I needed. When I brought them to Ry's coworkers (who look forward to me bringing them cupcakes every Wednesday/Thursday), they were all sitting at the door. I don't know if they were waiting on the cupcakes or just happened to be all standing there, but when they saw my tins.. they all smiled and whooped in unison.

There was a new girl there that hadn't had tried any of my previous cupcakes. She thought they looked too good to eat, which I stored the compliment in my brain. Presentation is everything, you know? Well, I warned them that they were dense and when they took their first bite (Ry included) they groaned and rolled their eyes in their head in unison. Christy said, "You outdid yourself yet again".

The cute re-usable tins that I bring the cupcakes into Ry's work have been coming home sooner and sooner. A dozen cupcakes used to last almost a week there, but recently, they've only been lasting before the weekend. I can't help but feel that the cupcakes I've been making have gotten better and better and everyone loves loves LOVES the swiss meringue buttercreams as much as I do.

I'm telling you, swiss meringue buttercreams are now my favorite type of frosting, beyond cream cheese frostings, which I love me my cream cheese.

Ry loved these cupcakes, which is good because I made them for him. He graded these babies an A+, which is a coveted grade that he doesn't give out lightly. Although they are dense, the dense-ness works for these. I couldn't imagine them tasting any better. There's just nothing I can think of to really improve these.

TIRAMISU CUPCAKES

I've always enjoyed baking. Always. As a kid, I would rather bake my own cookies than have store bought. My dad also went on business trip a lot while I was growing up and I would always have something baked for him for his arrival back at home. Since he had many sweet teeth, I felt it was like a duty to show my gratitude for passing that trait down to me by baking him these welcome home treats. While I was in high school, I wanted to try my hand at baking tiramisu. None of us has every tried it and by reading the recipes online, I thought it sounded ah-may-zing. I got my mother to buy Kahlua for me to try and bake it, but because I couldn't find any mascarpone, I never made it. Mascarpone is freakin' hard to find!

Fast-forward many years later: my dad has a taste of tiramisu for the first time at Olive Garden and falls in love. He then becomes a self-proclaimed tiramisu expert. He finds that you can buy frozen tiramisu at CostCo that tastes exactly like Olive Garden's, which is exactly how he likes it. My sister-in-law makes her tiramisu for him to try, which he didn't like. And being a natural-born Bostonian, he was quite blunt in giving her his critique (which was "too strong on the Kahlua"). She actually took small offense to it, but she got over it and says she'll never make him her tiramisu ever again. Whoops. 

Since I too, am a tiramisu lover, I was cah-razy excited to find a cupcake recipe that sounded perfect. I couldn't wait to try it. Finding mascarpone was still the most difficult part of this recipe. I looked in several different grocery stores with no luck. I figured PUBLIX would definately have it, but to be honest - I had no idea where to look, really. I figured by the cream cheese, but I looked everywhere beyond that. I looked in dairy. I looked in milk. I looked in cheese. I looked in butter. I looked everywhere. I don't know how I came across the damn deli cheese and saw mascarpone sitting there. I imagine the cupcake gods were smiling down on me when I happened through there because I never would have imagined mascarpone next to feta or gouda.

EVERYBODY LOVED THESE! And who wouldn't?! Tiramisu really is the shit. Really. 

A woman from Ry's work, who is a huge fan of my cupcakes, actually ordered two dozen from me to be ready two days after she tasted one. She had a party to go to and wanted to bring some for the party. She said they were a huge hit at the party. One man from my work wanted me to make him one dozen ready three days after he tried one. People I work with were eating them like chips. 

But the real test, is my dad. Even though, I wasn't worried because after I tried one - I knew he'd love them. He had me make one dozen extra for him to take to his work. 

So I made 5 dozen of these tiramisu cupcakes in 3 days. If that doesn't tell you how awesome these were, I don't know what the fuck to tell you. 

We went to CostCo a few days afterwards and I turned my nose up at the coveted frozen stuff. Since I now know how to make my own.. I don't need to buy anymore. Whoop!

COCONUT CUPCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

I figured out that most households are divided when it comes to coconut. Between my parents, mom loves coconut (go figure that an islander loves coconut) and my dad hates it. Between Ry's parents, his mom hates coconut and his dad loves it. Between my bosses who are married, Mary loves coconut while Earl hates it. Between Ry & myself, Ryan loves it while, in the words of Woody Harrelson in the movie ZOMBIELAND, "I hate coconut. Not the taste! It's the consistency." 

I used to eat the shit out of Snowballs when I was a kid. I think that may be the reason why I don't care for the consistency of coconut now, I just got burnt out on it. I'm still known to cook with coconut oil and coconut milk, but when it comes to shredded coconut, I'll turn my nose up at it 90% of the time. 

Now, not only have I noticed that households divide on their favor of coconut, I also noticed that the one who enjoys coconut makes the sacrifice of not keeping it around the house in sake of their significant half. My mother doesn't keep it around. Nor does Ry's father. Nor does Mary. Nor do I, really.. shredded coconut, that is. 

So Ry's dad's birthday was coming up and the man is incredibly difficult to shop for. You would think it'd be easy to shop for someone who loves movies, history & reading, but he insists that he doesn't want any movies or books as a gift. I think that's more of a ploy for us to not spend any money on his behalf, but we try to be clever and think of gifts that can work around his stipulations. I figured that my gift to him would be.. coconut cupcakes! 

I had some left over to give as freebies for the other coconut lovers I love. My boss and mother were eternally grateful. If you saw the look on their face, you would think they literally struck gold when they saw coconut under their noses. And all my loved coconut lovers thought the cupcakes were delectable. Ry's mother (who hates coconut) even rolled her eyes in the back of her head when she tried one. I mostly think it was because she was simply enjoying homemade cupcakes more than coconut cupcakes. Even though I enjoyed the cupcakes too, I just wish there was more of a lime flavor in the frosting. I thought I was clever when I had "you put the lime in the coconut" song stuck in my head while making them, but the lime just wasn't prominent enough for me to say it out loud. Next time I believe I'll use actual lime juice instead of the bottled stuff. 

SPICED CHAI LATTE CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

I had a buddy, Erin, back when I lived in TX. Under grave circumstances, she had to move away to WA where she wasn't able to communicate with anyone (rehab). While she gone, I moved away to AL and I was afraid that we'd never hear or see each other again. One day, many years later, I get a phone call. I picked up the phone and heard, "Hey woman!!". I immediately jumped up and down because I recognized her voice easily. I couldn't believe she found me because our mutual friends had also moved away since she left. 

We planned a trip for her and our best mutual buddy, Trista, to fly to AL and visit me immediately. The three muskateers were soon to be reunited. The day they were going to drive from TX to my house, I received an early phone call from them, letting me know that they were on their way and should be arriving in twelve long hours. When I hung up the phone, I sat up on my bed, in pajamas and thought to myself, "Well, I'm too excited to fall back asleep now.."

The next thing I know, I heard a knock on my door. When I opened it, I had arms around my neck instantaneously and laughter surrounded my ears. It was like we were 13 again, jumping up & down, hootin' & hollerin' and giggling uncontrollably. They explained that they couldn't wait until the morning and decided to drive all night instead. Being reunited with my two best friends that I haven't seen in five years in that particular way, is one of my most fondest memories. Definitely. Hands down.

When I invited them in, Erin made me some chai tea that she brought from WA with her. It was the first time I've ever tried the stuff and now, I associate that flavor with that memory of us three in my kitchen - in each other's presence for the first time in too long and picking things up like we've never left each other's side. Thank the gods for best girlfriends, you know? I've never been a girl's girl, but those two are my sisters. No matter how many years go by and how differently we mold ourselves - I can always depend on us picking things up like yesterday was just middle school. (Of course, now, they have husbands & children and I'm the weird one who doesn't believe in marriage and hates children BUT whatever.)

Okay. Enough with the nostalgia. These cupcakes were simply delicious. It brought up the memory I just mentioned, but maybe that's why I was quick to make them(?). The only thing is that these cupcakes turned out to be more on the chewy side than the fluffy side. They seemed more like muffins with frosting on them. Regardless, everyone loved them and loved the frosting even more, but when I sat down to myself to think of why they turned out chewy.. I thought that it may be because I used 1% milk instead of whole milk. I'm thinking there's just not enough fat to keep them moist. And if that's true, I fancy myself to be more culinary-chemistry literate than I give myself credit for (which is absolute zero). 

BLACK PEARL CUPCAKES WITH GINGER BUTTERCREAM

When I told R that I found a recipe that called for wasabi, he shuttered in fear. His face puckered and he shook his head in disbelief. I thought to myself, "challenge accepted". 

He was pleasantly surprised at the taste of these. I watched his face as he chewed on one. He began to smack his mouth, tasting the wasabi, and his eyebrows started to rise and then he nodded his head with a slight approval. It was a little funny to watch the transgression from dread to confusion to discovery and then acceptance all within the few seconds of one bite of a cupcake. I thought they were a bit odd myself, but they were essentially good. What I thought even more odd is that the next day, the wasabi flavor was totally absent. They were just plain ol' chocolate cakes with ginger buttercream. And those were good too. 

When I told my dad what they were he said, "wasabi?.. like horseradish?" He had the same sour face as my boo. I told him to don't knock em until you try em. As he was eating one, I watched the same transgression in his face from confusion to discovery but instead of acceptance, I saw indifference. He wasn't a fan of the wasabi cupcakes. Oh well. Ya can't win them all, huh dad?

Everyone else seemed to like them enough, but everyone else ate them the day after they were baked so the wasabi flavor had already disappeared. What they enjoyed was a simple (and lovely) chocolate cake with delicious ginger buttercream.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY PEPSI CUPCAKES WITH GLAZE AND COKE ICING

Because the root beer cupcakes were popular last week, I thought I'd try another soda cupcake recipe: Cherry Pepsi. I also wanted to do a cupcake that I thought R would favor and he does loooove his Cherry Pepsis. 

It was a lot more work than I thought. I was scrambling like hell to finish them on time. I didn't even have time to taste them fresh. I'm usually the first to taste the finish product, to make sure they're worthy of sharing with friends and family, but I was in such a rush - I was unable to. When I finally tasted them, I wasn't all too pleased, but it's probably because I'm not a fan of cherries. I enjoy myself a Cherry Pepsi, but I have to be in a certain mood for them. I won't grab one at the gas station as idly as a regular Pepsi, Mountain Dew or water. 

R, on the other hand, loved the cherry filling, but couldn't taste a drop of Pepsi. This kind of shocked me because there seemed to be a lot of Pepsi in the recipe. Now, if I'm ever going to make some Coke- or Pepsi-flavored cupcakes, I need to find me some Coke or Pepsi flavoring to add to the recipe. Using sodas alone just doesn't seem like it's going to cut it. 

I found a new baking supply website that I find to be awesome called SWEET!. They have a ton of flavorings that I'm wanting to purchase soon (like Cola, of course). I also have a recipe for mimosa cupcakes that I'm going to make for a friend on her birthday that needs champagne flavoring for the frosting. It sounds delicious and I'm anxious to try them myself, let alone my mimosa-obsessed buddy. What sucks is that her birthday is in May.. so no need to start dreaming about the champagne flavoring now. 

ROOT BEER FLOAT CUPCAKES

Because I was so disappointed with the taste of my absinthe cupcakes, I decided to make a new cupcake a few days later. My sweet tooth wasn't satisfied for the week. I decided to try and make a cupcake that R was appealed to, which was a root beer float cupcake.

I looove root beer floats. I also looove coke floats. When in middle school, I was one of those kids that had their parents drop them off at the skating rink on Friday & Saturday nights. I was also one of those kids that didn't rent any skates - I just walked around in my shoes (proudly), talked with my friends when they weren't skating & falling on their asses, played the arcade games & drank coke/root beer floats in the concession court area. I also ended up going out with a guy that everyone in the skating rink had the hots for. He was a grade below me, but cute as hell, and the relationship ended up being the most retarded thing I've ever done. Because of that guy, I date no one younger than me.

Okay, enough with the awkward nostalgia...

These cupcakes turned out great. Everyone loved them. A few co-workers of R's believed them to be the best I've made yet. The recipe called for root beer extract, but because I couldn't find any around, I used the only thing I could find - root beer concentrate. Even with the concentrate, the cupcakes turned out fine, but I still want to try to make them again whenever I decide to order some extract from AMAZON. At first, I thought the frosting was too sweet, but that may have been because I licked the frosting off the beaters before trying a cupcake. There was another frosting recipe that went with the root beer float cupcakes that I rather had made, but lacked cream soda extract and could find nothing to substitute it with.

Regardless, the recipe made four dozen mini cupcakes and they were gone in a day. I ended up making another batch of a dozen standard cupcakes to share with R's family because his father is a root beer fanatic. Both of his parents loved them and had requested more samples whenever I bake new batches of different cupcakes.

R grading (A-): He loved them. I was pleased to see it because I made the cupcakes pretty much just for him and his father. I told him about the cream soda frosting and after he thought about it for a second, said that he like the frosting just the way it was.

B grading: B+

GREEN FAERIE CUPCAKES

R & I have always wanted to taste absinthe. Apparently, you can't sell absinthe in America, but you can buy absinthe so we ordered a bottle from France. I remember looking up LA FEE and being dumbfounded at all the different types. I thought that there was just the typical green shit, but there's plenty to choose from. We ended up purchasing some kind of "starter kit" and were amazed at how cheap it really was..

Anyway, when we received the imported package, we made a date to get wasted on a night where we didn't have to work the next morning. The kit came with the bottle, two glasses, two spoons & a ton of sugar cubes. I tried to remember how the entire process was done in BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, but we actually YouTubed a how-to video (gotta love YouTube).

After it was all said and done, we took a sip of the green faerie and practically spit it out. To me, it tasted like watered down Jager. I'm not a fan of the black licorice flavor & R isn't a fan of Jager, so we kept the bottle in our freezer for probably about five years before I pulled it out again to make these cupcakes. I dunno what made me believe that I'd like the taste of absinthe in cupcake form, but NOOOPE. The recipe ended up making 6 dozen mini cupcakes and the frosting recipe made enough for 2 dozen of the minis, so I threw away the remaining 4 dozen. I just didn't want to keep any of these cupcakes around and I didn't think anyone else would like them.. it turned out that my boss and the security guard loved them. They thought I was crazy for throwing away 4 dozen.

R grading (D): Like I said, he's not a fan of the Jager flavor. I was more surprised that he gave a D because I gave them an F.

I didn't give any to my parents because I just thought they were so gross tasting that I shouldn't share any of them, but my boss at the bar and the security guard were excited to hear about them and wanted me to bring them the next time I came in. After I warned them that they taste like Jager and have that weird licorice-type taste to them, they finished off the batch for me one after the other. They even threw out a pitch to sell them during the next show we were hosting, which was practically a rave. I didn't have the heart to go through with it. 

CHOCOLATE MICHELOB LAGER CUPCAKES WITH HONEY MERINGUE FROSTING

 At work, some days are mundane & monotonous. Some days are filled with drama & gossip. Some days are just flat out shitty. But every day that I worked with this one woman & her daughter, were fucking awesome. The mother-daughter duo cooked in the grill and on slow nights (most nights), they would just hang out in the bar with me and smoke cigarettes, talking. The daughter & I got along great because we had much in common, mostly due to the fact that we're both laid-back tomboys. The mother was cool as shit & laid back, a retired pothead, but remained a pothead in her heart. We would joke around, make each other laugh, play practical jokes, goof off, tell nostalgic stories about our stupid antics, you know - shootin' the shit (don't know why we ever got paid, really). And I'm the shoot the shit kind of gal so those endlessly entertaining nights are missed by me since they've quit. 

The daughter had gotten a new job, but drops in every now & then to hang out in the bar. Her mother, on the other hand, had to stop working because she started having back issues flare up from a previous car accident. She ended up having back surgery nearly a week ago and during the surgery, she had a stroke followed by several seizures. This, of course, frightened everyone, but as of right now, she's at home & recovering. So I decided to bake her a special batch of cupcakes to help aid in the recovery. 

I knew I wanted to make her MICHELOB LAGER cupcakes because that's what she would drink whenever she got off work. She would clock out at 10:00PM and sit at the bar, chain smoking, laughing and joking, and drinking bottle after bottle after bottle of Michelob Lager. She was the only person to every drink the stuff. My boss hasn't even stocked the stuff since she hasn't been around because of her back.

I had a different cake recipe for Irish Car Bombs and thought that I'd substitute Lager for Guinness. The hard decision was what I should make for a frosting. I originally figured a Bailey's buttercream would be the way to go because it's the safest, even though I didn't agree with the flavor combination. A chocolate cake is a bit on the dense side to me and I thought a Bailey's buttercream would just be dense on dense, let alone an overpoweringly sweet dense. I was also desperate to try something new since I've made two frostings with Bailey's in it. But, like I said, I was just going to go with it because it was the safest. 

When I went to the grocery store to buy the Lager, I saw on the shelf above it, MICHELOB HONEY LAGER and I immediately thought, "That's a bingooooo!" (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS = fave Tarantino film). I jumped on the internet and came upon a recipe for a honey meringue-like frosting. I thought it would be perfect since the frosting was going to be light & airy, and have a more subdued sweet taste. It was exactly what I was looking for so I rushed home to start. 

The recipe's process was much like the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, in that it was more grueling due to extra steps. I don't know if it's because it's a chocolate cake made from scratch or what, but it turned out excellent. I'm not one for chocolate - if I had the choice, vanilla will always be my pick because it's light & fluffier in texture, but this is one of the better chocolate cakes I've tasted in a while. It may be because of the light & fluffy frosting that counteracted it? I should have tried the cake by itself, but I like my first taste to be the finished product. I actually tasted no hint of beer in the cake, which somewhat disappointed me since that was the point of the whole cake. The recipe called for 8 oz, but I poured the entire bottle (12 oz) in the batch. If I  had poured any more, I fear the batter would have been too liquid-y.

R grading (B-): He actually gave me a decent critique. I couldn't believe it. He said that the cake was a bit too "chocolate-y", but thought that the frosting balanced it well. He also said, "the after taste is the best part", which I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it sounded like a compliment.

B grading (B+): And that was that. She seemed reluctant to try them, maybe because I told her they were "Michelob Lager" cupcakes?

The mother I baked them for loved them, but she loves everything that I bake so.. nothing to go on there.